Carroll Wins Muddy NAIA Title Tilt

Carroll College captured its fifth NAIA football title in six years Saturday with a 17-9 win over Sioux Falls on a soggy, muddy field in Savannah, Tenn. The weather played havoc on both teams’ ability to hang onto the slippery pigskin. Carroll, which is located in Montana, fumbled six times and lost three of those, while Sioux Falls dropped thee and lost two. Carroll’s Gabe Le ran for 116 yards and reached the end zone twice in the third quarter to help his team win and earn game MVP honors. That’s Carroll’s Brandon Day (No. 34) and Zach Richardson (No. 7) celebrating in the mud following their championship win, much like my pal Michael and I did back in fifth grade little league. The only difference is Michael and I weren’t celebrating a win; we were sliding in the mud behind the bench as the game was in progress. We were bored because of lack of playing time. Anyway, congratulations to Carroll. I still think UVa-Wise should have been in the NAIA playoffs. But at least the NAIA has a playoff system, right? Right!